That was a good question. Maddie didn’t have an answer. Ultimately, she didn’t need one. The sound of a door opening on the other side of the partition drew her attention, and when a man in a jail jumpsuit appeared in front of her, she had other things to worry about.
“Todd.”
“Hello, Maddie.” He beamed as he sat, his hands cuffed in front of him. An additional guard positioned himself behind Todd, a hulking man who didn’t look as if he’d ever found anything amusing. “It’s so good to see you.”
Maddie took a moment to study the man’s face. He looked older than the last time she’d seen him. That wasn’t unexpected. Living amongst prisoners — even in a county jail — couldn’t be easy. There were new lines around his eyes and a grim set to his jaw.
“I can’t say the same thing about you,” Maddie supplied. “What do you want?”
“Oh, is that any way to greet your old friend?”
Maddie was in no mood to play games. “What do you want?” she repeated. “Your lawyer said you had something to discuss with me. I’m not here for my health ... or to massage your ego. Either tell me what you want or I’m leaving.”
“I can see a year hasn’t done anything to improve your sense of humor,” Todd groused, shaking his head. “I rarely get visitors. I was simply hoping we could talk.”
“About old times?”
He bobbed his head. “Exactly.”
“Okay, that sounds great.” Maddie faked a smile. “Let’s talk about the time you and your friend Dustin stalked me in the woods, threatened to rape me, and then tried to kill me. That’s one of my favorite memories.”
The expression on Todd’s face never shifted. “Don’t go getting worked up. There’s no reason for that. Besides, I believe you’re remembering that night wrong. That’s not what happened.”
“Oh, geez.”
“It’s not,” Todd persisted. “I don’t blame you for your memory lapses. You were in that water for a long time. You probably have brain damage.”
“I must have brain damage if I agreed to visit you here,” Maddie muttered under her breath.
“You’re still smoking hot and the brain damage seems minimal,” Todd offered. “You shouldn’t be ashamed or anything.”
“I don’t have brain damage.”
“I think you do.” Todd was solemn as he leaned forward, his face as close to the glass as possible without touching it. “You don’t remember what happened that night. You don’t remember that it was really Winters chasing you through the woods and threatening you. He was the one working with Dustin. I tried to save you.”
“That’s a load of crap,” Maddie shot back. “I remember everything that happened that night. You cut the power and forced me to send my elderly grandmother for help because it was the only way I could guarantee her safety.
“You chased me in the woods,” she continued. “You threatened me. You told me all the awful things you were going to do. I remember every second of it.”
“No, you remember what Winters told you to say,” Todd clarified. “He used his friendship with you and filled your head with lies at a time when you were confused. He took advantage of your diminished capacity.”
“He brought me back to life. I wasn’t breathing. He made me breathe.”
“And you’re grateful to him, aren’t you?” Todd’s eyes gleamed with haughtiness. “You’re grateful and you agreed to do whatever he said as a form of repayment.”
“You’re full of it.”
“I’m right.” Todd pressed his palm to the window, forcing Maddie to remember the way his hands moved toward her the night he promised she would die. “Winters is the one who set me up. You’ve got to believe that, Maddie. I’m innocent.”
Maddie vehemently shook her head as she stood. “You’re crazy. You’re also wasting your time. I remember everything that happened. I remember every detail. It’s going to be a great honor to testify against you.”
Todd’s smile slowly slipped. “You’re going to regret it if you do.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise.”
NICK KEPT CHECKING HIS PHONE for texts from Maddie as he and Kreskin worked their way through the greenhouse workers. He was on edge — he couldn’t deny it — and he wouldn’t be able to settle until he knew Maddie was safely away from the jail.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Kreskin said as the duo cut their way through the greenhouse and headed in Harris Bishop’s direction. “She’ll text as soon as she’s out of there.”
“It’s taking too long.”
“Security takes forever. You know that. She probably spent more time going through security than she will talking to Todd.”
“I hope so.”
For his part, Harris seemed resigned when Kreskin and Nick approached him. His jawline was set and his eyes were cold as he squared his shoulders and faced the two detectives.
“Henry said he gave you guys clearance to question us, so there’s not much I can do about that,” he supplied. “That doesn’t mean I’m happy about talking to you guys. I’ll do it because Henry asked it. That’s the only reason.”
“We don’t want to take up much of your time,” Kreskin said easily. “We have a few questions regarding your relationship with Shelby Capshaw.”
“I didn’t have a relationship with Shelby.”
“According to Henry, most of the women here have crushes on you,” Nick countered. “He said that you’re very popular with the ladies.”
“I haven’t dated anyone since returning to town.”
“No one?”
“No.” Harris shook his head. “I came back to Blackstone Bay because my mother was struggling. She actually wanted to put the house up for Dustin’s bail, something I had to talk her out of because I have no doubt that my brother would’ve run to save his own skin and she would’ve lost everything.”
Harris was so matter-of-fact Nick couldn’t help being impressed. “Have you talked to your brother since you returned?”
“Yes. I visited him in jail.”
“And?”
“And he doesn’t like jail,” Harris replied. “You don’t really expect me to tell you what I talked about with my brother, do you? You’re one of the people trying to lock him up.”
Nick thought about what Smith said over their morning meeting. “While I’m not Dustin’s biggest fan, I don’t think everything that happened was on him. Todd is the one who convinced your brother to do certain things. That doesn’t make your brother innocent — he’s far from it — but he’s not the one I’m most interested in seeing going away for life.”
Harris heaved out a long-suffering sigh, as if he were in pain simply because he had to answer questions. “My brother is not a good person. He never was. Winthrop might’ve lit the match that sparked everything, but my brother was a willing participant. He deserves to be locked up.
“That doesn’t change the fact that he’s my brother and my mother will be upset if I don’t visit him,” he continued. “My mother is walking a fine line. She believes every lie Dustin spouts. She thinks he was framed and is innocent. She can’t see anything but the child he used to be.
“I’ve tried talking to her but she won’t listen,” he said. “She can’t let go of the past. She’s going to have a rough time of it during the trial. She’s going to fall apart after the verdict. I’m hoping after that, though, she finds some peace and manages to move on.”
“It’s good that you moved back,” Nick offered. “Your mother needs you. You’re a good son. We still have questions about Shelby.”
“I don’t have any answers. I told your girlfriend that yesterday.”
“Maddie mentioned she saw you,” Nick said. “She thinks you’re a good person and she hopes the town gives you a second chance.”
“She’s got a kind heart.”
“She does.”
“I still don’t have any information on Shelby,” Harris persisted. “I knew her from work. We
said ‘hello’ occasionally. Twice a week or so, I went out to the party spot in the woods with everyone. She occasionally visited, too. Henry said that you visited the clearing yesterday and found Shelby’s purse. I wasn’t there the night before her body was found. I was with my mother. I don’t have answers for you regarding that night.”
“Fair enough.” Nick tugged on his bottom lip. “Henry said all the girls have crushes on you. There have to be other guys getting attention, too. Did you ever see Shelby show interest in any of the men working here?”
“I don’t think so but ... .” Harris narrowed his eyes as he considered the question. “I guess maybe she flirted with Butch and David a little bit, although I’m not an expert on flirting. That simply might have been her way.
“Like I said, I hung at the party spot occasionally, but that was only because there was nothing else to do,” he continued. “I wasn’t exactly keen on making friends. I like to keep to myself since I came back. That makes things easier.”
“Okay, we’ll talk to Butch and David. Thank you for your time.”
Nick and Kreskin moved to leave, but Harris called out to stop them.
“I’m glad that my brother didn’t hurt your girlfriend.”
“He hurt her. She simply overcame it,” Nick said.
“Well, I’m glad she overcame it. She’s kind of funny, and that redhead she hangs with is hysterical. I’m glad she didn’t come to harm. That would’ve been unfair.”
“It would have,” Nick agreed. “Thank you for answering our questions. We’ll be in touch.”
Ten
Maddie had one thing on her mind when she left the jail and returned home: a shower.
For some reason, seeing Todd again made her feel dirty ... and unbelievably angry. The feeling lasted for the duration of her ride back to Blackstone Bay. Then, when she parked in the driveway and realized two strange cars were taking up spots, the feeling only doubled. She had to bite back a curse when she walked inside and found Maude sitting at the dining room table with Nick’s mother and sister.
“What’s going on?” Maddie tugged her purse over her head and rested it on the counter as she looked between faces. “Have I missed an appointment?”
Sharon Winters was almost as much of a mother to Maddie as to Nick over the years, and the mixture of amusement and concern washing over her features was enough to set Maddie’s teeth on edge. “I guess that depends what you consider an appointment.”
Maddie racked her brain. “Did we make plans to meet one another?” She didn’t mean to come off as ungrateful or unwelcoming, but she had a massive headache brewing and her plans to crawl into bed and sleep to stave it off looked to be lost.
“We made plans last week,” Kelly Winters volunteered. As Nick’s sister, she wasn’t always Maddie’s biggest fan. In fact, she blamed the blonde for breaking Nick’s heart when she left for college and cut off contact and had only recently started coming around … mostly because Nick put his foot down. “It was at that barbecue where John and Christy announced they were expecting.”
Something clicked in the back of Maddie’s mind. “Oh, right. We were going to talk about a few wedding plans.”
“Unless you want us to go,” Kelly prodded pointedly. “I mean … you can kick us out of the house if you would rather not spend time with us.”
Maddie scowled. She was determined to get along with the woman despite her attitude. It was important to Nick. Kelly’s wasn’t the easiest of friendships to cultivate, but Maddie didn’t consider herself a quitter. “I didn’t say that.” Maddie chose her words carefully. “It’s simply been a crazy day.”
Maude, who had poured iced tea for everyone before sitting to look through the photo samples Sharon had acquired, cocked an eyebrow. “You had to meet with the prosecutor handling the Todd Winthrop case this morning. I forgot that’s where you were until just now. I’m guessing that didn’t go well.”
“It could’ve gone better,” Maddie agreed.
“Todd Winthrop?” Sharon furrowed her brow as she ran the name through her head. “Wait ... is he the man who tried to kill you in the lake right after you returned?”
“That would be him.” Maddie heaved out a sigh as she sank into a chair at the end of the table and rubbed her head. “I’m sorry. I forgot that we were getting together. Nick is the one who set up our meeting with the prosecutor. He probably didn’t realize that I had plans with you guys. As for me, I simply forgot.”
Sharon took pity on Maddie and patted her hand. Much like Olivia Graves, Sharon felt she had two children the same age the second Maddie and Nick bonded in elementary school. They were never separated after that, practically joined at the hip. She knew Maddie well and recognized that her future daughter-in-law was having a rough day. “What happened?”
“A lot happened.” Maddie leaned back in her chair and blew out a frustrated sigh. “I mean ... a lot. Daniel Smith — he’s the prosecutor on the case — explained a few things to us and I guess I thought it was going to be easier than it’s apparently going to turn out.”
“I don’t understand.” Kelly wrinkled her ski-slope nose. She was much smaller than her brothers, resembling her mother rather than her father. She almost looked as if she was from a different family because her facial features were so different. “I thought it was a slam-dunk case. I mean ... they chased you in the woods and Nick saved you. You were both witnesses.”
“Apparently the defense team is going to point the finger at Nick.”
Sharon straightened her shoulders. “How?”
“They’re going to say that Nick was the one stalking me and I don’t remember because I was unconscious in the water for an extended period of time. They’re going to say that brain damage is a possibility and that Nick managed to confuse me when I woke up, that Todd was somehow trying to save me and I merely misunderstood what happened.”
“Oh, that is ridiculous,” Sharon sputtered, her temper on full display. “I have a mind to track down those jerk faces and have a word with them myself.”
“I don’t think the jerk faces care what you say, Mom,” Kelly said dryly, her lips quirking. “It must be serious if you’ve resorted to name-calling, though.”
“Ha, ha.” Sharon rolled her eyes. “I’m serious. Nick would never do anything like what they’re describing.”
“Of course Nick would never do anything like that.” Exasperation flitted over Kelly’s face. “That’s not how he operates. It doesn’t matter, though. They’re defense attorneys. They’ll say anything to get them out of trouble. That’s their job.”
“Pretty much,” Maddie confirmed, smiling in thanks at Maude when her grandmother delivered a fresh glass of iced tea to her. “Thank you, Granny.”
“You’ve had better days I would guess, Maddie girl.” Maude patted her shoulder. “I’m here to take care of you just as much as you’re here to take care of me.”
“I know. Thank you all the same.” Maddie briefly pressed her eyes shut as Sharon continued to bitterly complain about the audacity of the defense team.
“What moron would believe that Nick is to blame for this?”
“No one I know, but we do have things working against us,” Maddie conceded, her eyes popping open. “For starters, we have a dead girl who matches the description of the first round of victims. I mean ... Shelby Capshaw and Sarah Alden could be sisters they look so similar.”
Sharon was clearly puzzled. “What dead girl?”
“Oh, geez, Mom.” Kelly rolled her eyes. “Don’t you watch the news? There was a dead girl found in the woods not far from here. From what I understand, she was technically on your father’s property, right, Maddie?”
“She was technically right behind my father’s property,” Maddie corrected. “It’s close enough to be of concern, though. The prosecutor is worried that the defense is going to point the finger at Nick again and use this dead girl as a wedge issue because she was found so close to where Nick is currently living.”
> “Well, that is just ... .” Sharon trailed off, the appropriate mean words to comment on the situation eluding her.
“That’s not even the worst of it.” Maddie barreled forward, happy to have someone to confide in so she didn’t have to muddle through the nightmare alone. “They’ve made a deal with Dustin Bishop so he’ll testify against Todd. He’s only going to serve twenty years as part of that deal.”
“Wait a second.” Sharon’s unhappiness grew by leaps and bounds. “I was under the impression that he was just as much a part of what transpired as Todd Winthrop. Why is he getting a pass?”
“Because they need help if they expect to convict Todd,” Maddie answered without hesitation. “The prosecutor didn’t come right out and say that, but I could tell he was thinking it. He’s officially worried.”
“Well, if that’s not a bug bite on the butt of humanity, I don’t know what is,” Sharon complained, causing Maddie to muster a real smile as some of the frustration from earlier in the day eased off her shoulders.
“That’s not even the worst of it,” Maddie admitted.
“There’s something worse?” Kelly didn’t look happy at the prospect. “What could possibly be worse?”
“Todd Winthrop requested to see me.”
Kelly was flabbergasted. “Why would he do that?”
Maddie shrugged. “Power. To play a game. I’m not sure about his end motivations.”
“Well, you don’t have to see him,” Sharon supplied. “There’s no rule that you have to see a jail inmate if they request a visit.”
Maude’s expression was thoughtful as she scanned Maddie’s rapidly coloring face. “She’s already seen him.”
“What?” Sharon’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not true, is it? You didn’t visit Todd Winthrop, did you?”
“The prosecutor thought it would be a good idea,” Maddie hedged. “It wasn’t something I had planned, but it ended up taking over my day all the same.”
“What was it like?” Kelly asked, intrigued despite herself.
“The conversation I had with the guard before Todd was led into the room was more enlightening than anything he had to say. Apparently Todd tried to get it on with one of the nurses and she got transferred. I need to remember to tell Nick about that because I’m sure he’ll find it interesting.”
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